Vacaville City Council to mull municipal code changes

Vacaville City Council members are slated to take a look at a host of proposed Municipal Code amendments Tuesday -- including three sections related to themselves.

Regarding decorum at City Council meetings, a proposed amendment bans any type of conduct or speech that "interrupts, delays or disturbs" the orderly conduct of such meetings.

It also amends the council's method of taking action to doing so by "ordinance, resolution or motion" and allows that the rules of order used at council meetings will be Rosenberg's Rules of Order. It replaces the "complex, archaic" Robert's Rules of Order, officials said, and is "simpler, contemporary and easier to apply."

Other proposed changes include:

* Amending the Code section on police reserve officers to be gender neutral and to replace the term "city administrator" with "city manager."

* Revising the maximum bingo prize amount from $250 to $500.

* Clarifying that certain animals, such as chickens, are not permitted in the city on any single parcel of property less than one acre in size, except as otherwise permitted elsewhere in the Municipal Code.

* Clarifying that, in recouping weed abatement costs on private property, before placing a lien on said property the city must give the property owner 45 days reimburse costs.

* Raising the age limit from 9 to 12 on youths using skate parks unless accompanied by an adult.

In other matters, the City Council is expected to consider the Housing Successor Affordable Housing Property Development and Disposition Strategy.

When redevelopment agencies were axed in 2011, cities were tasked with wrapping up redevelopment-related issues. The city of Vacaville, acting as the Housing Successor regarding redevelopment-related properties, has received an approved Housing Assets List from the Department of Finance. That done, a plan has been developed that will provide additional affordable housing opportunities, officials said.

The strategy, according to a staff report, "provides the framework for selling and/or developing the 63 Housing Successor properties. This plan also includes a short-term funding plan to support implementation of the strategy."

The parcels include 20 properties in the Markham/Rocky Hill areas, 20 in the Callen/Bennett Hill area, 30 in the Opportunity Hill area and 11 in the "Scattered Sites Strategy."

In the Markham plan, seven lots may be sold for commercial development, six for a community garden, one for affordable housing, two kept to meet a long-term lease obligation, two more retained for future affordable housing development and the final two to be "quitclaimed" to adjacent owners.

In the Callen plan, 20 parcels may be sold for affordable housing.

In the Opportunity Hill plan, 19 parcels may be sold for mixed use and potentially include an affordable housing component, 11 sold for affordable housing and mixed use development, two sold for a downtown "entry" development and one sold to an adjacent property owner.

In the "Scattered Sites" strategy, five parcels may be sold for retail/commercial development, (existing) housing or social services activities. One plot may be sold for affordable housing and the remaining five may be kept for office space for the city's Housing Services Department.

The Vacaville City Council meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the City Council Chamber, 650 Merchant St.